College Sports Blog

Writer: Big 12′s ‘BCS title hopes are dead’ after Kansas State’s loss to Baylor this weekend

Last year, a 10-0 Oklahoma State team poised to play for a national championship rolled into Ames, Iowa, for what should have been an easy win.

Instead, Iowa State handed the Cowboys a crushing 37-31, double-overtime loss last November, derailing their title hopes and any chance the Big 12 had of being represented in the BCS Championship. Alabama went on to beat an LSU team that had beaten them earlier in the season to win its second national title in three seasons.

This year, it was the 4-5 Baylor Bears that took down top-ranked Kansas State this November, 52-24, Saturday, once again dashing any hopes of a team representing the Big 12 in the national title game. As ESPN Big 12 blogger David Ubben put it: “Better luck next year.”

“The smoke has cleared. The new BCS rankings have been released, and the Big 12 must face a harsh reality for a third consecutive season: Its BCS title hopes are dead,” Ubben wrote. “For the second consecutive season, the Big 12′s No. 9 team knocked off its No. 1 team on the road on a chilly November night in Week 12. Kansas State, like Oklahoma State last year, was a double-digit favorite. Both left with crushed dreams that must be mended over a bye week. The Big 12′s blue bloods — Texas and Oklahoma — once again checked out of the BCS title race early this season. A resilient contender emerged again, but once again fell short.”

For the second time in school history, the Wildcats won their first 10 games in a season and had their sights set on a national title game. But, like when Texas A&M beat them in the 1998 Big 12 title game, that’s not going to happen thanks to Baylor’s 52-24 victory Saturday.

Kansas State still controls its destiny in the conference title race. All it has to do is beat Texas at home in two weeks to capture the Big 12 crown. As for its national title hopes, the Wildcats would likely need either Alabama or Georgia — who will play each other in the SEC title game — to lose their regular season finale to sneak back into the Top 2 of the BCS standings.

“This loss wasn’t quite as painful as the 1998 loss in the Big 12 title game to Texas A&M, but it was much more shocking,” Ubben continued. “Could Kansas State handle the pressure of being No. 1? Did Collin Klein’s concussion knock him off track? Were the Wildcats simply not fast enough, deep enough or talented enough? The answers to those questions don’t matter much anymore. If the Big 12 wants a national title, there’s only four words left to make that happen. Better luck next year.”